Tag Archives: speculative fiction

For one reason or another, the other day I was actively trying to think of things that did not inspire me.

My list:

Telephone poles, water towers, billboards

Armadillos, nutria, dingoes

Light bulbs (despite their association with ideas)

American cheese

Petty crimes and misdemeanors

Writers, you know where I’m going with this, right? Any list – even an uninspiration list – can be used for inspiration.

No, I’m not going to write a story about an Oliver Twist type girl with American cheese colored hair who lives in a water tower with only a single light bulb and a family of nutria. But, hey, I could.

I might.

Because ideas can come from anywhere – even unideas. And giving your muse absolute, unfettered freedom can sometimes make your WIP seem fresher and less frustrating. :-D

If you are stuck: write a list! Of anything. Everything. Nothing.

What else have I been up to?

Concert: My husband’s birthday was this past weekend. We celebrated by seeing Billy Joel at Nationals Park in DC. It was fantastic! Wished he would have played Vienna instead of Uptown Girl, but except for that, a perfect setlist.

Jalapeno Poppers: Once again, I am faced with a bumper crop of jalapeno peppers. What else can you do but stuff them with cream cheese, wrap bacon around them, and bake them?

Reading: LUCY by Laurence Gonzales. I actually bought this some time ago. Yet another example of a book that’s been in my TBR pile way too long. Now that the movie’s out, I figured I’d better get to it.

I miss Borders

Writing: Here’s another character sketch from the Nightshade novella I’m working on:

Aceraceae “Acer” Feldspar’s healing magic only works on one person: her. Losing her mother at the age of seven to a disease she couldn’t cure, she was determined to find a way to use her magic to help others. Now, at nineteen, Acer protects her tribe’s perimeter. But the intrusion of a scarlet augur – demon harbinger of passion, pain, and seismic change – threatens far more than Acer’s pride.

So how about you? How was your week? Have you seen any great concerts or read any good books? What do you do with a dozen or more jalapenos? Writers, what are you working on? What’s on your “Unspiration” list?

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY

WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE

If you’ve already bought the book and/or added it on Goodreads, please share the link with friends and followers.

Kings River Life

Review and Giveaway

Kings River Life is “a California magazine with local focus and global appeal.” It has a “Fantasy & Fangs” section that reviews fantasy and horror. Their reviewer recently reviewed WHOJ:

“[T]he journey approaches an epic, mythic level, pitting Noon against puzzles and monsters that can’t be defeated by flat-out attacks. The solutions are ingenious, and they help Noon build power in the magic she spent most of her life trying to hide and deny… Archer builds on the classic journey formula where the prize must be won at a cost.” Terrance McArthur for Kings River Life on White Heart of Justice

KRL is giving away one print copy of WHOJ (U.S. only). Giveaway ends tomorrow.Details on how to enter are here.

Other Wonderful Reviews and Reviewers

The Qwillery

“The chronicles of Noon’s journey to accept her place in her world culminates in a thrilling adventure… unpredictable and thoroughly satisfying… inspired and exhilarating… I loved the introduction of new creatures… [and] I love when an author surprises me. Archer raised my level of appreciation by catching me unawares.” Trinitytwo, reviewer for The Qwillery, on White Heart of Justice

That’s What I’m Talking About

“[T]he overall story arc… was gripping and intriguing… [Noon’s] growth over the course of these books is immense and heartfelt… If you are looking for something different – this alternate realty where the apocalypse has occurred and the demons won – you should really think about picking up the first book, Dark Light of Day and enjoy the journey.” Gikany & Una at That’s What I’m Talking About on White Heart of Justice

Proud Nerd Book Reviews

“Archer does an excellent job of constructing and explaining the magical system in her world… the “law school” angle is intriguing… The fantasy elements in the story, especially magic and the demons, work extremely well… Anyone who reads fantasy, romance, or especially a combination of the two should thoroughly enjoy Noon’s adventures.” Matthew Cirilli for Proud Nerd Book Reviews on Dark Light of Day

“While Dark Light of Day focused on Noon’s myriad struggles coming to terms with her waning magic and her new life at St. Lucifer’s Law School, Fiery Edge of Steel sweeps Noon to the edges of New Babylonian civilization into the unknown… One of Jill Archer’s greatest strengths is her ability to create unique and intriguing creatures and characters to populate Halja.” Matthew Cirilli for Proud Nerd Book Reviews on Fiery Edge of Steel

Thank you to each of these reviewers for their interest and support! I’m grateful to them for taking the time to read the books, write such thorough and thoughtful reviews, and for sending me the links so that I can share them with you. If you aren’t already following them, please check out their sites.

I’ve had a terrific time visiting all of the blog hosts and reading and responding to reader comments. Each release has had its own vibe and I gotta say — even despite the uncertain future of the series — WHOJ’s release has been my favorite. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting to know the online book blogging community better (and they are getting to know me) or maybe it’s because I wasn’t a clueless newbie nor was I under enormous deadline pressure at release time. Regardless, I’ve had fun and I hope you have too. As a final thank you and one last chance for everyone to enter to win my awesome prizes, I’m listing all the blog tour participants below with dedicated links to each site and a brief description of topics. If you haven’t already checked out the posts, interviews, and reviews, please do! I am grateful to each and every tour participant and to Roxanne Rhoads at Bewitching Book Tours for setting it up.

What else have I been working on?Among other things, I’ve been tinkering with my website. As promised, I added Discussion Questions for White Heart of Justice. If you read the ones for either Dark Light of Day or Fiery Edge of Steel, you know they contain MASSIVE SPOILERS. Pretty much the entire plot is revealed so don’t read them if you haven’t already read the book(s). Also, after nearly three years of blogging with the same header pic, I finally decided to change it. For those of you who get updates via email, I’m including the before and after pic. I also created a static landing page for my blog. It’s an experiment. I had been using my latest blog posts as a landing page, but it’s probably time to switch over to a static “hello, welcome, here’s who I am and what I write,” right? Check out the new static page here and let me know what you think.

BEFORE: Gargoyle of Notre Dame de Paris

AFTER: architecture in Ghent, Belgium

What’s next? Ha! Well, those of you who have been following along on the tour know that I’ve got at least two potential WIPs waiting in the wings: a Noon Onyx B4 and a new, fantastic, creepy-romantic “YA deuce” I’ve been working on (meaning I envision two books). An aside: lots of online noise lately about whether adults should read YA or not. Wow. Really? I’m not going to waste too much time on an articulate response, but the very idea of someone else telling me what I should or shouldn’t read is mind-blowing. My general approach to reading fiction for entertainment is READ WHAT YOU LIKE, PEOPLE. And don’t let anyone tell you to read anything different. At one time or another, readers of young adult, new adult, romance, science fiction, and fantasy have all been called out for their “odd tastes.” What do I do when I hear this sort of nonsense? Ignore, ignore, ignore…. (Now if you’re reading for educational purposes, the entire discussion changes, but that’s a discussion for another day). Keep calm and read on, my fellow genre lovers!

Below are the WHOJ blog tour topics and links. Except for the post where I’ll be announcing the blog tour prize winners, this is the last you’ll hear about WHOJ in such concentrated fashion. You have all been WONDERFUL SPORTS, but I’m sure you’re looking forward to posts on some other topics too. Speaking of that, I’ve got a great guest blogger stopping by tomorrow — Susannah Sandlin (a.k.a. Suzanne Johnson) with her five favorite scenes from Allegiance. See you then!:-D

* May 27 RELEASE DAY PARTY! Bitten By BooksKalisto’s Crystal Palace and Raphael Sinclair’s Wish: I discuss how I created the setting for the “gearing up” scene. My inspirations? Snow globes, greenhouses, guardian angels, London’s Crystal Palace, whether and when wishes should be granted… and there’s an excerpt that sheds some light on my Rafe sneak peek tweet.

* May 29 Guest Blog SFSignal Topic: What Is It With The Devil and Violins? Come read about The Fifth String, Norwegian fossegrimen, and Fiddler’s Green. BONUS: I share the original titles to each of the Noon Onyx books. WHOJ’s is the best!

Topic: Noon’s missing tooth. Yep, Noon loses her tooth in Chapter 1. Come read about why I knocked it out and give me your opinion on über heroines: If you could choose only one word to describe your ideal heroine, would it be interesting, relatable, or admirable?

Topics: Am I a pioneer of New Adult Fantasy? I also include a message for Spanish and international readers.

Review: “This book is a homage to Noon’s independence…. With a quirky sense of humour and [fantastic] worldbuilding, White Heart of Justice delves deep into a quest of magic, freedom, redemption and love.”

Hi all– the White Heart of Justice blog tour continues! I’m over at Suzanne Johnson/Susannah Sandlin’s blog Preternatura today discussing how I used Saturnalia and the Lord of Misrule as inspiration for one of the opening scenes in White Heart of Justice. There’s a cute picture of a snow demon — the only one I could find. Why a snow demon? Because that’s what the students carve out of snow at the Festival of Frivolity. Come on… I know you want to read more about it! Click here. :-D

Last Friday, CBY Book Club posted their interview of me. I share what my very first favorite book was and I discuss my TBR pile — past, present, and future. Since the start of the tour on May 20th there have been other spotlights and reviews. Check out my blog tour page for the complete list of bloggers/reviewers who are participating. Each link gives you an extra chance to win the fun prizes I’m giving away at the end of the tour:

EMMA D. won the $50 Amazon eGift Certificate I was giving away there. I loved that (urged on by me) she made a “completely wild” wish that would require great miracles and supernatural happenings. It was a really nice wish. In fact, so many of readers’ wishes were heartfelt, selfless, and inspiring. (One of my reader questions was: What would you wish for at the fountain outside Kalisto’s Crystal Palace?)

LAST DAY TO TWEET

WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE

SNEAK PEEK TWEETS!

Anyone who tweets one of these will be entered to win ANY fantasy book of their choice from Book Depository (so long as Book Depository ships to your address, up to $10.00). Ends at midnight EDT on 6/3/14.

One tweet/entry per person.

If you aren’t on Twitter, or don’t want to tweet the above, you can still enter to win the book. Just tell me what’s the last fantasy book you read, or the one you’re most looking forward to reading, in the comments below. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open to international participants 18 and over. Complete rules here.

“Lucem in tenebras ferimus. Into the darkness, we bring light.” @archer_jill #DARKLIGHTOFDAY

“When traveling into the unknown, sometimes the biggest danger is the one you bring with you…” @archer_jill #FIERYEDGEOFSTEEL

“One out of every two hunters who follow the Old Trail will not return.” @archer_jill #WHITEHEARTOFJUSTICE

I love the characters, but I’m really just in it for the monsters and magic. Bring on the ice demons! @archer_jill #WHITEHEARTOFJUSTICE

Armageddon is over. The demons won. But it’s not as dark as all that. Parts of it are romantic and sweet. @archer_jill #NOONONYXSERIES

WHAT ELSE HAVE I BEEN UP TO?

This past weekend I saw The Machine (a Blade Runner-esque science fiction movie: Caity Lotz was terrific; the noir feeling felt a little forced at times, but overall, I enjoyed it) and Maleficent, in which Angelina Jolie was magnificent. There’s an interesting discussion over at io9 today. I was going to comment but then got frustrated at having to create yet another social media app account to manage my comments there, especially when the pop up box blocked the terms & conditions so that I couldn’t even read them. In any case, the post and my thoughts are worth a read IF:

1. You’ve seen the movie (massive spoilers)

2. You don’t mind rants (it’s filed under “rants”)

For what it’s worth, my take:

I can’t help but think that Disney was damned if it did, damned if it didn’t. To me, the most significant scene storywise wasn’t the dragon transformation (although that could have been much more impressive regardless of who was doing the shifting) but the kiss. I don’t want to spoil it further for anyone who hasn’t seen it so I’ll just say: Bravo, Disney!

As for the wing cutting scene… horrible. Just horrible. But I have to admit I enjoyed watching Maleficent’s dark transformation into a character capable of exacting revenge. Just as I equally enjoyed her other, lengthier, but perhaps more meaningful, transformation into something else. Not a dragon, but something potentially more powerful.

Also visited Baltimore’s National Aquarium and the Inner Harbor. Because you all know how much I love my photo galleries, here’s one from the weekend:

Beautiful, Deadly, Cute, Helpful:

But which is which?

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back tomorrow with a fun guest post from Auralee Wallace, author of Sidekick, and a link to my guest post at Addicted 2 Heroines. Have a great night!

My guest post at SF Signal is up! And it’s a fun one: I discuss what’s up with the association between the devil and the violin; I admit I used to be a horrible fiddle player; and I share the original titles to each novel in the Noon Onyx series. Long-time followers, you may remember the original title to Dark Light of Day but I’m not sure I ever shared the original title to Fiery Edge of Steel (knowledge was a big theme in that book, remember? ;-) ) and I’m even more sure that I’ve never shared the original title to White Heart of Justice with anyone but my agent and my editor. It’s a hoot!

* John Anealio reminded me on Twitter this morning about Niccolo Paganini, the 19th century Italian virtuoso whose playing was so diabolical his audience believed he was in league with the devil. Paganini’s story is intriguing. Check it out here. But, if you do, be sure to also stop by SF Signal because Paganini’s not in my post. I discuss three other interesting connections.

Have you ever played the violin? Do you play an instrument now? Where do you think the association between the devil and the violin got started? Lemme know in the comments over at SF Signal!

My blog tour resumes today with some fun posts: I’m discussing vintage gardening tools, Clash of the Titans, and Noon’s mom’s growing gifts over at Night Owl Reviews and I’m at The Reading Café discussing my covers. I know I’ve discussed them before, but I share more about the process, covers in general, and give each of my covers a “stat report.” If fantasy covers were baseball cards, click here for what would be on the back of mine. Finally, I’m wrapping up my Release Day Party at Bitten by Books. If you haven’t had a chance to stop by, there’s still time! Readers have asked TONS of terrific questions — and I’ve answered them, in great detail. Skim through for more background on just about everything or leave a question of your own!

Local Lending Libraries

And because I like to include pics w my posts… here are two for all of the book, coffee, and pizza lovers out there => Starbuck’s and Bertucci’s versions of the local lending library. I like it!

Bookshelf at my local Starbuck’s — what’s missing? ;-)

Bookshelf at my local Bertucci’s. Mostly children’s books… so they get a pass. :-D

Ok, you knew this post was coming, right? This is the post I’ve been working toward for… well, a year now! :-D

Release Day Party at Bitten by Books going on RIGHT NOW! => Click HERE.

The Bitten by Books contest ends at midnight CDT on 5/31/14. I’ll be over there all night and then will be checking in periodically until it closes to answer any questions and/or respond to comments. (There have been some good ones! Come add yours!)

And, probably the last time I’ll be posting/emailing these links to you for a LONG time (although they’ll be up everywhere else, of course)… Here are White Heart of Justice‘s BUY LINKS (Yay! Exciting! Buy links instead of pre-order links. Depending on where you live, you could start reading WHOJ tonight!)

Now is also a good time to thank everyone who has: been following the blog tour (resuming tomorrow); already stopped by the release party; shared, posted, tweeted or RT’d a link or sneak peek tweet; or pre-ordered the book! I appreciate the support and well wishes. Terrific participation and feedback so far. You guys are all awesome! THANK YOU!!!

Since Lucifer claimed victory at Armageddon, demons, angels, and humans have coexisted in uneasy harmony. Those with waning magic are trained to maintain peace and order. But hostilities are never far from erupting…

After years of denying her abilities, Noon Onyx, the first woman in history to wield waning magic, has embraced her power. She’s won the right to compete in the prestigious Laurel Crown Race—an event that will not only earn her the respect of her peers but also, if she wins, the right to control her future.

However, Noon’s task is nearly impossible: retrieve the White Heart of Justice, a mythical sword that disappeared hundreds of years ago. The sword is rumored to be hidden in a dangerous region of Halja that she is unlikely to return from. But Noon’s life isn’t the only thing hanging in the balance. The sword holds an awesome power that, in the wrong hands, could reboot the apocalypse—and Noon is the only one who can prevent Armageddon from starting again…

Today is the kick off for my WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE blog tour! What does this mean?! Well, mostly it means lots of posts and prizes. Below is a tentative blog tour schedule. (The nature of blogging being what it is, I can’t guarantee that a blogger or review site will be able to post on the date listed below. Things happen. Schedules change. Glitches occur. But this is the plan.) I will do my best to add dedicated links on my WHOJ blog tour page as soon as the posts are live. Each stop on the Bewitching Book Tour will have additional chances for you to win my awesome prizes — also detailed below. There are only SEVEN DAYS left before White Heart of Justice‘s release. If you haven’t pre-ordered already, what are you waiting for?! If you have enjoyed even one blog post here, do me a huge favor and pre-order. :-) And, if you already have pre-ordered, THANK YOU!!! Early reviews and feedback have been great!! Noon Onyx fans, fantasy fans, fans of dark worlds inhabited by strong characters, monsters and magic — this one’s for you! :-D

PRE-ORDER LINKS

Since Lucifer claimed victory at Armageddon, demons, angels, and humans have coexisted in uneasy harmony. Those with waning magic are trained to maintain peace and order. But hostilities are never far from erupting…

After years of denying her abilities, Noon Onyx, the first woman in history to wield waning magic, has embraced her power. She’s won the right to compete in the prestigious Laurel Crown Race—an event that will not only earn her the respect of her peers but also, if she wins, the right to control her future.

However, Noon’s task is nearly impossible: retrieve the White Heart of Justice, a mythical sword that disappeared hundreds of years ago. The sword is rumored to be hidden in a dangerous region of Halja that she is unlikely to return from. But Noon’s life isn’t the only thing hanging in the balance. The sword holds an awesome power that, in the wrong hands, could reboot the apocalypse—and Noon is the only one who can prevent Armageddon from starting again…

BBT TOUR-WIDE GIVEAWAYS

You may recall I mentioned earlier that, because this is the third book, I really wanted to HAVE FUNwith my blog tour prizes. Each of the prize packs were inspired by a scene from one of the books.

The Dark Light of Day prize pack was inspired by the scene where Noon and Ivy get ready for the Barrister’s Ball. The Fiery Edge of Steel prize pack was inspired by the scene where Noon and her investigative team have dinner on the deck of their dahabiya just before reaching… well, I know many of you have read it, but if not, I don’t want to spoil it! :-)

Philippa Ballantine’s story, Weather Child, started out as a podcast novel, but a digital version will be available through Smashwords on March 1, 2014. To help spread the word about the new version, she’s doing a virtual book tour with Bewitching Book Tours. At the end of the tour, she’s giving away 3 copies of the book (print or digital, winner’s choice). Welcome, Pip!

Character Sketch

Faith and Ruth

Finding inspiration for characters is sometimes hard for writers, especially in the fantasy field. For Weather Child, set in New Zealand of the 1920s and 1930s it was actually very easy for me to do. I only had to look back into my past, and my family’s stories to find a spark that ignited the novel, Weather Child.

Faith is an expression of love for my great-Aunt Ruth. When my grandmother died I was about seven years old, and I knew even then that the large Ballantine family might well have spun apart. My Dad had seven brothers and a sister, and all of them were starting to build their own families. Family gatherings were a way for all those siblings to stay in touch in the time before Facebook. Into this gap however stepped my grandmother’s sister, Ruth Cromb. She had never married, but had spent her life helping others. She was a vibrant, cheerful character, who had friends of all ages wherever she spent time.

I know that the usual sort of female character that appears in most fantasy books is the arse kicking heroine, but this time I wanted to write a character that was strong, but not in that sort of way. I wanted to show the kindness and care that Aunt Ruth had, and show how that is a kind of strength too. Her belief in family, and her gentle determination to protect those she loved was her power.

However, I imagined what she would do if she had the powers of a Weather Witch like Faith has, and I knew immediately that she would use it for the betterment of those around her. So Faith become a government agent working to prevent those who might use seraph power to evil intent.

Aunt Ruth had a beautiful younger sister, so Faith got one too. While lovely in her own right, Faith grows up knowing most of the male attention around her is directed at Jean. While some people might be twisted by that, Faith still loves Jean, and the bond between the sisters is a strong one.

Faith’s magic is something that she earned when she had a horrible farm accident as a child. The seraph within her awakens and now she has power she is afraid to use. The accident depicted in the novel is the exact same one that Ruth endured. I still remember her telling it to me as a young child, and I was fascinated by her missing finger. To me it made her special and yes…magical.

Ruth passed away many years ago, and I still miss her strength and kindness. Yet when I was writing Faith, I found myself smiling as I was able to put that onto the page. I gave Ruth new powers, and a different story, but her soul remains intact in my words.

I hope as people read about her, they get just a little hint of what this special woman was to me and those who knew her.

More about Weather Child

Never alone. Never apart.

They are the Awakened, a unique breed of people in a remote corner of the world. Faith is one of these gifted carriers of the Seraphim; and in return of her unconditional love, her Seraphim grants her powers of incredible potential.

But not all carriers embrace their blessing.

Jack loathes being an Awakened. He never asked for it, his Seraphim keeping him alive even in spite of his desire to die. Not even a great war could rid him of this curse.

Now a magician of incredible ability and a walking dead man must find a way to work together to save the Seraphim. Someone covets the power of the Awakened, and will not stop until that power belongs to him.

More about Philippa Ballantine

New Zealand born fantasy writer and podcaster Philippa (Pip) Ballantine is the author of the Books of the Order and the Shifted World series. She is also the co-author with her husband Tee Morris of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novels. Her awards include an Airship, a Parsec, the Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice, and a Sir Julius Vogel. She currently resides in Manassas, Virginia with her husband, daughter, and a furry clowder of cats.

Page proofs forWHITE HEART OF JUSTICE(Most of those stickies are notes for me,not typos!)

Just turned in the corrected page proofs for White Heart of Justice! As I mentioned after turning in reviewed proofs for Fiery Edge of Steel, this is a great moment for authors. It means, from my end, the book is FINISHED! Sure, there are all sorts of things that still need to be done, but most of them concern promotion — ways to get the word out about the book. So…

What can readers expect from White Heart of Justice?

If you liked the first two books, Dark Light of Day and Fiery Edge of Steel, expect to see more of the same blend of magic, deep, dark worldbuilding, romance, and action/adventure with a whiff of mystery, all told in a youthful first person voice (except for the prologue, which is told from a certain someone’s point of view ;-) ). That said, Noon is not as inexperienced in this third book as she was at the start of the series. (But that’s half the fun of reading a series, right? Getting to see how a character grows and changes over the course of the novels.)

In White Heart of Justice, readers will also get to see more of Nightshade (Noon’s tall, dark, and handsome healer brother), Aurelia (Noon’s somewhat enigmatic, always intense, sometimes aloof mother), and Karanos (Noon’s at times distant, often imposing Demon Council executive dad), as well as some other favorites. :-D

You’ll also get to see a new type of magic… and Noon using waning magic in a different way than she did in books 1 and 2. And, of course, there will be new beasts, new demons, and new places — both on and off campus — to explore!

Sneak Peek at Prologue and First Page

Clicking on the pictures should enlarge them enough to read. If you like what you see, please pre-order and/or add it to your Goodreads shelf! Links are below.

White Heart of JusticePrologue i

White Heart of JusticePrologue ii

White Heart of JusticePage 1

Since Lucifer claimed victory at Armageddon, demons, angels, and humans have coexisted in uneasy harmony. Those with waning magic are trained to maintain peace and order. But hostilities are never far from erupting…

After years of denying her abilities, Noon Onyx, the first woman in history to wield waning magic, has embraced her power. She’s won the right to compete in the prestigious Laurel Crown Race—an event that will not only earn her the respect of her peers but also, if she wins, the right to control her future.

However, Noon’s task is nearly impossible: retrieve the White Heart of Justice, a mythical sword that disappeared hundreds of years ago. The sword is rumored to be hidden in a dangerous region of Halja that she is unlikely to return from. But Noon’s life isn’t the only thing hanging in the balance. The sword holds an awesome power that, in the wrong hands, could reboot the apocalypse—and Noon is the only one who can prevent Armageddon from starting again…

Fine Print

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Nothing on this site is intended to be legal advice. If you need legal advice, please find an attorney. Dick the Butcher was wrong when he said, "Kill all the lawyers." They really are there to help you.

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